All Reviews

As an organizer for many years, unfortunately I can only say that the experience has been a bitter one... forget about the occasional weirdo that might join the group you're paying for as an organizer, it's the complete and utter lack of touch and empathy from Meetup HQ towards us their paying customers. Over and over they don't get tired of making the point that they don't care a bit about and understand what you have to say and what truly works to run a succesful group for adult people. The feeling you get is that Meetup HQ is run by a psycopath together with a bunch of teenagers. All they care about is that their website looks good, hiding and many times disappearing the many complaints organizers have posted. For instance, organizers used to have a forum to post questions, concerns, etc. but due to the fact that lots and lots of organizers were posting complaints about their platform, website, constant changes, etc etc etc, Meetup HQ had the brilliant idea to silence everyone and got rid of that forum... instead of perhaps listening for a change to its paying customers.

Seriously! $19 bucks a month to start a group and all you get is headache after headache! Once KiwiConnect.com comes out in my area I'm going to that! (free AND none of the privacy issues of Meetup such as people seeing where you are without even having a Meetup account)

As an organizer of a 8,000 member + group I absolutely HATE Meetup.com They make unwanted changes and do not listen to customer feedback-- If you are staring a new group PLEASE consider other options. It may be too late for me, but you can save yourself!

With this last change they took away ALL font options, color, font size, ability to copy and paste pictures, highlight or underline, and MUCH more.
No all of my postings have to be b;ack and with at size 11 font.

It was soo good in the past, but with change after change they continue to screw the paying organizers

I was an organizer for a large group for professionals in New York City for a few years and WILL NEVER attend another Meetup anywhere again. Professional events resulted in such cruel and psychotic behavior that we even had to call the police at several events. Restraining orders, having to court, etc.

I completely regret all of the time that I spent trying to put on quality events. The stand up comedians here in NYC have it right - Meetup is for LOSERS who cannot meet friends in real life.

Meetup is one of the scummiest sites going. By this I mean meetup.com, not all the fabulous members and organizers who are unfortunately using it. I have had very little good dealing with meetup in the last while (since they cut out most of their editing options and pissed many organizers off) I have been blocked from commenting on their boards after posting the letter they sent me after I registered a complaint with them. They refuse to consult with or acknowledge the organizers who are paying them! All you get is a copy and paste generic letter and a shove under the carpet. From what I can tell they place no value the people who use the service.
That being said, the groups, organizers and members are fabulous! I have made many friends who I adore! I hope in the future these group can move elsewhere.

This site is a huge scam. Once you sign up you'll be harassed with endless e-mails, and changing your e-mail preferences is a major pain if you sign up to any of the groups. If you complain about the e-mail volume on their suggestion forum your account will be banned. If you say ANYTHING even slightly criticizing them on that forum your ENTIRE account will be banned. And if you paid money? Too bad, so sad, you voicing your opinions apparently means you're no longer entitled to the money you spent.

Not to mention the fact that if you don't give in at first and don't pay them to create a group, a few days later they'll send you a 50% off coupon. You have to be a pretty disgusting company to run your business like that. Trick people into paying full price but offer the reluctant ones HALF OFF. I mean, wow.

Aside from the unethical business practices the membership base itself if FULL of fake profiles. 90% of your members won't attend a meetup, won't respond to messages, aren't active in any way, and have stock photos on their profiles. Digging a it deeper you'll be hard pressed to find any of them are real.

This site is great for meeting people with similar interests, attributes, or talents that are outside of the interests of the average local bar patron. I have a rare personality type and a 160 IQ which makes it very difficult to meet people that I can have a meaningful conversation with. I started a meetup group and have met some very interesting people. I think that groups that revolve around cleverness have better odds of turning out well because most of the people that show up can have amusing conversations on just about anything.

The much older people, shyer people, or geekier people that show up I just try to include and give them advice on things that they complain about. I like the idea of helping people with what I have learned as much as I do meeting people who challenge me and teach me things.

Most of these people would take me years of pub crawling to meet randomly

The website has a big problem with scammers, however. Whenever I join a new meetup group, I get several messages from men who are using meetup as a pool of new targets for their scam. The language/phrasing is often the same, as if they cut/paste the bait message.

Beware if you get a message from a man whose profile shows messages from several other women saying "Thank you for the compliment but I don't remember you, where'd we meet again??"

Beware if you get a message from a man whose english is poor, using phrases like:

hello dear
if you don't mind
I will like to know more about
hope to read from you soon
Looking for a serious minded woman for a serious relationship
I am new here
please no games
i will like to meet a serious minded woman for a serious relationship
God bless and please to hear from you soon
Thank you for the information's

If you do get a message like this, click Report - and also send an email to abuse@meetup.com include links to the message you got and to his profile.

If they get enough complaints, maybe they'll be able to adjust the software to filter out certain phrases.

You really have to go and try some out. Some are worth the $ and others just rip you off and all they care about doing is TAKING your $ and offering very little (i.e. Soul City Social Club). The more the charge the more your should be weary or just avoid them completely.

I was an organizer and member this place is crazy. I started a womens drum healing circle had about 30 women 20 rsvp to me for the eve we were having the circle. NO ONE SHOWED UP seems a bit strange I paid for the space and of course paid for the meet up organization. I then closed out my account and my credit card was being used on line. Do not play into this company they will not help you if you have issues like this. They send people to your meet up who do not want to come to a meet up or are 25 miles away from the place you intend to have the meeting. As for the new set ups it sucks. It use to be free but charging you for something is crazy. Meet ups are only good if you have a public place to meet and our area was very scare in those places. I would not allow anyone to come to my home, as you don't know who you are dealing with and most are a bit weird and crazy. they don't like groups and don't want to even meet. They just like to join on line. don't waste your time or money, as you will get caught in a loop like I did, yes meet up is a scam!

This site is just horrible and disappointing. I signed up for several spiritual meetup groups hoping that I would connect with like minded people. First of all the organizers, who claim to be shamans, healers or whatever else are full of crap and just want to manipulate others and get your money. Second of all, even when I reported inapporpriate members, I unfortunately attracted really sick people who would stalk me by sending me so many messages or make me feel threatened. When approaching the organizer, nothing was done. I had always had this issue with meetup, not connecting with the right type of people, and I just think the people on there do not have good intentions, see weak lonely people and try to manipulate them. The site is a great site for predators and disgusting men to try to get women.

It's ok for finding interest groups but the individual customers receive little support if an organiser turns against them for any reason and there's no appeal process allowed. I have had contact with the membership team in NYC over being unfairly banned from but group I'd helped create but meet up are only interested in urging you to set up new groups instead in that area! I appreciate that organisers are busy people but without the individual members, there's no meet up!

Meetup is a great way to meet people with similar interests. There are a lot of different groups..including hiking, camping, dancing, workout groups, dating, networking, movie lovers, international foods and even groups to learn another language. The meetup.com website is pretty well run and is always adding new features. Hosting a meetup group is pretty easy. There are forums and Q&As that the website has created that are extensive. Joining a group is easy and painless. Remember the site is not free to the meetup group organizers. Meetup does not charge members a fee but many group organizers charge a fee for their group to pass on the costs of the meetup fee and other group costs (clubs around the world also do this).
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I am reading the negative comments below and must say all of them our false...so I am going to try and correct the information.
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WHO CAN START A GROUP - Anyone who wants to start a group can. You pay a monthly or annual fee to do so. If you are computer literate it is easy to set up and manage meetings. I host a meetup group for people wanting to learn Spanish and we have weekly meetings. I charge $10 a year to my members to help recoup the costs.... there are some business' on meetups but the ones I have seen are pretty clearly marked...i.e Yoga $8 a lesson. Like anywhere there may be some scammers out there. I haven't seen any on meetup and I have been a member and an organizer for 5 years... Since anyone who pays can set up a group there are a few that are disorganized and their are some groups that never take off (especially in small towns). But for the most part meetup groups are run by volunteers who are willing to give their money and time for their hobby or interest and are a great way to meet people who share your interests.
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EMAIL - You can easily manage your mail from meetup. You do need to do this for your general meetup membership and for each group you belong to though.
I belong to many groups that I have totally turned off my emails from and then choose to get every email and notice from the group I host. You can choose in between options also, for example choosing to get an email when a new event is posted to your group. As an organizer I can choose other emails that go out to my group. I have it set so I have to approve all group emails from anyone but my co-organizers.
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PROBLEM WITH MEMBERS - Meetup, like any volunteer organizations, does always have problem and ungrateful members but they are few and far between (looks like we have some in these reviews). Many groups do have a problem with members RSVPing for events and not showing. Most groups have started removing members who do this. Since going a meetup group is so easy you do get people to join who might not fit in with your group or lack group etiquette. Some of these people have not been previously active in clubs and have definitely not been an officer in a group. These people don't realize the time and expense it takes to organize a club, even one that is on meetup. However, as a rule most members are great, especially the regular core members.
If you join meetup remember that your organizers and hosts are volunteers and please remember to say thank you. While the meetup site makes things easier, hosting a group and/or an event is still time consuming. I have a large group that has 2-3 meetings a week and I get more "why don't you do this or this or this" (from new members who can be quite rude about it) than "thank you's". I am president of two groups outside of meetup and members of these groups are helpful and appreciative.
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DUES - It does cost to host a meetup group and many groups charge a nominal fee to their members. In the 4 years I have had a group, the expense of the group has come out of my pocket 3 of those years. I know this is partly my fault since I don't go around asking for dues all the time. I also buy supplies for my group and buy gifts and give little thank yous for the people who volunteer to host events or teach a class. I know quite a few groups that are removing people who don't pay their group dues and have done so on occasion. I think meetup.com could do a better job at letting people know that the organizers do pay for the groups. Many members don't know this and expect it is free.
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SECURITY -There are a lot of ways to keep meetup group and meetup members secure, this is important for any group but especially anything on the internet. You can make your profile private to anyone outside of meetup and can make a lot of your information private to people who are not in the same meetup groups. There is also a lot group members can do. To join my group you have to answer some questions and provide a identifiable photo id. I also personally approve each member. My group is also private so no one outside the group can see my members or where we are meeting. For meetups in homes etc I only send the addresses for people who RSVP. I don't require anyone to use their full name (I use my first name and last initial). I also remove members who cause a lot of conflict and have a friend who has a social group that has removed several men because members had complained about them.
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When meetup organizers get together we talk about member problems (problem personalities, and people not paying dues or not RSVPing), I don't think I've ever had a discussion about a problem with the website or the company..other than to explain how to do something on the website or discuss a website tool they are now using. What most conversations are about are the one or two problem member groups we have. Although as we have gained in experience we started removing the trouble makers. When you remove a negative member the dynamics of an entire group changes. Also removing problem members will help you keep your volunteers. I have had numerous volunteer Spanish instructors quit because one member or another was rude to them etc. These are normally new members. I have also had people say they will never host an event again because people have RSVPed and not shown up or have been late and got nasty when the group did not wait an hour for them to start.
In summary I would say the meetup website is well done. The fees to host a group are a bit higher than I would like but there are a ton of great features on the website and the company (meetup.com) is there to make a profit and running a website like this takes a lot of people and resources. AND ;) if meetup club members paid their dues the cost wouldn't be an issue.

Some groups are okay, have weekly regulars, and no ulterior motives.
On the other hand I am disappointed in those that are clearly for businesses ..well actually they are not clear about that until the first meetup you go to and then tell you about classes they have and how much it cost..Over 300 dollars for the last one I went to. Had I know this I would never have attended. It's basically advertising their classes without really letting you know that until you're already at the meetup. So then it's a disappointment and a big waste of my time.
I do think there are some good honest meetups. I found some meditation groups that are free or they ask for a minimal donation if you care to make one. I paid the suggested fee of a dollar at one, To help them with the cost of the meetup site.
I've also attended a book group and a general meetup for coffee, and a gamers group. There were plenty of others there. And all of the groups have been running a long time.

To some people that are saying it is for losers and the people are weird. Maybe some of them are odd (to you..whose to say what's odd..maybe you are), but to say they all are is wrong.
I've met a lot of intelligent likable and fun people. These people are not losers, they are people that want to get together and share their knowledge and interests with like minded people. In this way meetup is a great idea.

They use fake accounts to pump up your meetup, this is why only a few people show up per meetup. Not only are they faking out the organizers but the people are tricked into thinking others are going (which kind of adds a security issue considering it's not safe to just attend any meetup by yourself).

Because of their bad ethics, this site is becoming more and more unpopular. All this greed will surly see its karma.

I am disappointed in Meetup.com's ethics. This week I 'stepped down' as Organiser of my group, handing over the leadership to a lovely woman in the group who I know will be enthusiastic and continue to nurture the group :-) I had already paid Organisers Dues (fees) up until 23 September 2013. I also ticked the box that asked me if I wanted to transfer this payment over to the new leader. She accepted the position as Organiser, but was charged $42 ! I was alarmed at this charge, but several emails between myself and Meetup.com to clarify this, just resulted in their 'apologising' for the "confusion". There shouldn't have been any confusion. They were double-dipping, and would not refund the $42 to my friend. They obviously didn't 'transfer' my payment (til September) to her. They then told me that any payments made relate to the person (Organiser), not the Group. Had we known this upfront, I probably would have remained as Organiser until my payment had expired in September. Up until this time, I have had good experience with Meetup.com. I have thought it to be a good networking site. But they have now lost my vote by their dishonesty and sneakiness.

I've had all positive experiences. Although, I have mainly gone to the Support group meetups like Social Anxiety. I've been to few regular meetups such as Art and film meetups. When I've gone , The Organizer will ask for $2 or $3 donation to cover monthly fee. Its better to have a group private so that the Organizer can eecide if the person is truly interested in group. There are weirdos out there.

I went to a number of events, the organizers seemed more concerned about making money more than anything else, or inviting members to well orchestrated 'setup' events just to attempt to put the person down and then take advantage of them. In particular one event organizer in Toronto Sarah demanded money for events one failed to attend even when the emails were unsolicited. Now I am not saying that all the meet up groups are the same, but I would say there are quite a number that only want to take advantage of new members.

Great potential that I want to recommend but a disappointment in UK practice.

Look at the number of foul-mouthed people trolling INTERNET and you must expect some foul-mouthed, weirdoes. They just want to make others feel how they feel as rejected social dregs. Give them a hug. If they don't change - tell them where to go.

There was a time when Meetup.com told you all people in your area interested in the same topic or activity as you. For some reason Meetup, stopped giving that information. Why? Feel a con coming?

Now Meetup.com tells you there are 64 people near you interested in the same topic. What does 'interested' mean? Something vaguely similar.

What does 'near' mean? Up to 100 miles.

Now either Meetup.com are out to con all new organisers or they are just plain dumb. They are Americans. From the other side of the Atlantic, they look at a map and see that Dover is near London. But Dover is up to three hours by public transport and a near 2 hour car journey that few in the UK would undertake lightly. And not for a regular social event.

What started as a great idea with potential is now degenerating into a con. Let me plaguerise Boomtown Rats: Its a rat trap - don't be conned!

I signed up for a new group yesterday morning. By the afternoon i got an email from some women at Meetup that she didn't like my design and went ahead and changed it. I emailed them that although i appriciated there effort to improve my page, i wasn't happy they changed it without my okay. I asked them to agree not to change my page, that i paid for as long as i was within policy and if they couldn't do that to send me my money back. They choose to refund my money. So, be warned. Although you've paid for the page, they have full control over its content and lay out and by the way. This facit is not in there TOS

Many people have asked about Meetup.com. They are a complete scam and ripoff!

First, they take your money (subscription), then a week later pick and choose who they do not want on their site. Without notice, they cancel your account and say it was due to a term violation and they will refund the money. After several emails and phone calls, all we received was a standard form email saying they will not discuss it any further and the case has been closed!

Second, so far, there has bee no refund and no emails returned on that as well.

Third, we forwarded several "identical" groups to ours that did the exact same group that we did but they ignored our objections and the one "local" competitor (who turned us in) remains on meetup with their group!

Fourth, we found through a source that actually offered up proof, that a "voluntary, additional contribution" to Meetup would get you what you wanted. Such as a competitor terminated!

This is a total scam and a simple sear around the internet will reveal additional Meetup "ripoff reports as well. Here are a few examples...

This is a great site by which to find social events and activities, but the good thing about meetup is also the bad thing: Anyone and everyone can join any meetup group. The people lie in their profiles, post pictures of cartoon characters or when they were 20 years younger and so forth. The groups get huge turnout when they are first announced and then after that, no one is interested and attendance fades to nothing after 2-3 meetings.

If you charge for workshops, even fewer people will come, and everyone is out for themselves from their own farming angle: if you go to a singles group rest assured the organizer has a singles company or website business, and so on.

Also, if you want to organize a meetup group, the fees are fairly expensive considering that most groups lose 90 percent of their turnout after the first two meetings or so.

So...there are pros and cons, and they're huge. Big turnout when your group is announced, only to have turnout drop drastically after one or two meetings as people lose interest and look for the next "new" thing that they can go to for free. The people lie and just click on whatever the "new" group is without reading group descriptions or requirements and meeting places are often expensive to reserve with no-shows a huge issue with meetup.

I've organized close to a hundred meetup groups at this point and feel very ambivalent about the groups, the people, and the company. Meetup has deleted my groups for no apparent reason and without notice, sending automated e-mails when I asked them why (you have to use very vague language in offering descriptions).

So I can take or leave meetup depending on the day of the week and how I feel.

Be very careful which groups you join & scrutinize the intentions of the organizers.
In general, the organizers exist to serve their own interests. I have first hand knowledge of one organizer who's created various singles clubs to target the age groups of twenties, thirties, fourties, fifties. He also used fake personas of pretty girls as co-organizers, to kickoff invite to meetups. Now approach a venue / restaurant and offer to bring X people if they can give you a kickback. The kickback varied from negotiating a cheap meal (and not passing it on, in effect pocketing the difference). Needless to say, the pretty organizers always found an emergency excuse not to turn up. This happened in Sydney Australia. Thread very carefully if you live in Sydney and see variations of the same theme, do not take anything at face value.

What is truly interesting is who is supporting the #resist agenda. All these organizations and their leaders have past or present connection to the top politicians. #Resist is a simply a part of the agenda to justify the taking away people's guns and basic rights. They want you to resist so they can sit there and lie once again how it wasn't their fault and there was no other choice. Then Meetup comes up with their new rules which makes you sign your rights to privacy away just to be a member. Seems to me Meetup was also part of the agenda right from day one. And to think people stand up so proud and claim they are educated. What a joke, they controlled your education from the day you were born. If you really want to resist, educate yourself to the truth of what this world is about and where we are headed.

The only way to contact them is support@meetup.com and they only answer your questions when it's convenient for them. I am an organizer and have sent them several emails over the past month and I've received only 2 responses. The rest of the issues have not been address and I am still waiting on a reply.

Most complaints about organizers have to deal with disagreements about how things should be run. If you don't like the organizer or how they run the show, find another Meetup. I have been a successful organizer for many years and there are personalities I just don't gel with. I look at the numbers in my group and listen to feedback and know it is not always me.